In an email this morning, David Cameron told me (and thousands of others registered for the Conservative conference) that he is proud of the NHS. Me too. Call it Orwellian if you like, but equitable access to healthcare is a pretty good thing.
But who has the best healthcare system, the USA or the UK? Answer – neither. While total spending on health is very different – 9% of GDP in the UK and 17% in the USA – the extent to which both healthcare systems save lives show the USA as the worst in the developed world and the UK not far behind. France, Japan and Australia are the best.
Moreover, it is interesting to point out that while the other nations have improved dramatically in reducing preventable deaths between 1997–98 and 2002–03, the USA has improved only slightly.
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